Rick Pollack, President and CEO, AHA

The many complexities of health care today continue to challenge hospital and health system governing boards to ensure that high-quality patient care is provided to the communities they serve.
UnitedHealth Group鈥檚 concentration in the healthcare system is unprecedented. If it were a country, it would rank 42 in the world in Gross Domestic Product.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it is a time to raise awareness of and reduce the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues. It鈥檚 also a time to recognize how mental illness and addiction can affect all of us 鈥 patients, providers, families and our society at large.
Stand up. Speak out. Be heard. The stakes for the future of health care are too high to do anything less.
The AHA鈥檚 2024 Annual Membership Meeting gets underway in two days with a jam-packed schedule featuring prominent federal legislators, top officials from the Administration, influential newsmakers, and hospital and health system leaders who are propelling innovation in our field.
During the last two weeks we have seen a flurry of regulatory activity affecting hospitals and health care providers, and we expect that trend to continue for the next several months.
As the campaign season heats up, it鈥檚 important for all health care providers to speak up, ask hard questions of candidates and evaluate their thinking on the issues that affect our field.
America鈥檚 hospitals and health systems have proven their dedication to caring for their patients and communities time and again, particularly during the challenging circumstances in recent years. Though the Lown Institute鈥檚 so-called 鈥淔air Share鈥 report highlights the important contributions of certain hospitals, it misses the larger point, selectively relying on isolated data to paint a negative picture about the hospital field in general.
The Coalition to Protect America鈥檚 Health Care, which for 24 years has聽fought to protect access to high-quality care for all Americans,聽will now be known as the Coalition to Strengthen America鈥檚 Healthcare: Protecting 24/7 Care.
A March 14 in the Washington Post calling for Congress to enact so-called site-neutral policies is deeply flawed and incredibly out of touch with the realities hospitals and health systems are experiencing right now.